Platinum vs HGSS vs B2W2 (personal advice)

[Boss1708]

I was considering to get a previous gen game that I had skipped so which one out if those 3 would you recommend for me, judging by my personal taste?

I mostly care about;

- Game lenght

- Post game lenght

- Region design and size

- Graphics (both overworld and Pokemon animations during battle)

Those are the things I care about in the games, so which game should I hypothetically buy?
PD the most important feature would be Postgame difficulty/ lenght.

 

[The Infidel]

I was considering to get a previous gen game that I had skipped so which one out if those 3 would you recommend for me, judging by my personal taste?

I mostly care about;

- Game lenght

- Post game lenght

- Region design

- Graphics (both overworld and Pokemon animations during battle)

Those are the things I care about in the games, so which game should I hypothetically buy?
PD the most important feature would be Postgame difficulty/ lenght.

Well B2W2 is the most recent, and has the best graphics. There's not too much to do postgame, apart from the Pokemon World Tournament which is quite cool, where you face off against old Gym leaders and E4 and champs. If you have an action replay, you can unlock challenge mode (or if you have a friend who has already completed specifically Black2 I think) which make the game difficulty much better.

HGSS is my personal favourite and has the most post game content. The graphics are great too imo, not quite as good as gen 5 but not too far off.
you get the whole of kanto post game, making 2 whole regions to explore really making the game length longer, you get to train to beat red, theres a ton of legendaries, including from other gens. theres also the battle frontier imported from Platinum.

Platinum is good, it fixed a ton of the problems in Diamond and Pearl, in terms of post game there is a lot of legends to catch and the previously mentioned battle frontier. But as the oldest of the 3 it is starting to look tired graphically and the sinnoh region hasnt changed much from dp, its a bit small.

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

If you don't mind the time it'll take to grind, then I would say HGSS. Between the Battle Frontier, the Pokeathlon games and records, the new Safari Zone, trainer rematches with the full Indigo League, and maybe even a few other things that I'm forgetting, there's something to be engaged in for a long time. Johto/Kanto is fairly small as a region, but dungeons like Mt. Mortar, Dark Cave, Union Cave, or the returning Unknown Dungeon and Seafoam Islands are solid for exploration (Mt. Mortar by itself is massive). And there is a touch bit of open world travel at Johto's halfway point, with all of Kanto being open to your liesure when you resolve the Power Plant situation.

Again, the biggest thing is the grind. There's really no where to do it in Johto/Kanto, so preparing for the battles can go at a snail's pace.

If that is a problem, then Platinum would probably be better for you. Platinum has higher level wild Pokemon and access to the VS Seeker so you can go get into battles yourself rather than waiting for others to get ready. There's also a very nice balance between side activities, battles, and places to explore. Sinnoh is perhaps the best in terms of hidden dungeons and optional areas.

BW2 is also great though, between the PWT, the Black Tower/White Tree Hollow, or even the Institute if that's your thing. Not to mention the Medal Rally, Entralink sidequests, Join Avenue, and a host of added areas both during and after the game is complete. Only problem is that its a mostly linear Region, and the easy Gyms will make it a shorter ride overall.

For visuals, I never thought Generations 4 and 5 were that different...BW/BW2 has moving sprites, but sometimes that can make them look painfully off...Like, you can actually see the individual pixels on your Pokemon most of the time...And maybe its just me, but attacks look better to me in Gen 4 despite being older...

Gifs for comparison




It just seems like Gen 4's style is more crisp and smooth. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Bolt Strike]

Game length: I have to give this to Platinum, Sinnoh is one of the largest regions in the series.

Post game length: Depends on whether or not you consider Kanto be part of post game in HGSS. If you do, then HGSS, but otherwise I would say Platinum has more to do in post game. I will say that BW2 has more post game areas than Not Kanto, but aside from that I thought BW2 was a tad weaker in post game activities.

Region design: Platinum by far. It's the most open ended of the three (again, not counting HGSS Kanto) and there's plenty of optional areas and backtracking. The only region that even comes close to Sinnoh in terms of region design is Hoenn.

Graphics: BW2 is just barely better because of the battles being animated, but there's not a huge difference in graphics.

Overall: Go for Platinum, this game is the pinnacle of open exploration and game content, you should have plenty of things to do in the game.

 

[Boss1708]

Quite a hard decission it seems... I cant decide yet... LOL

 

[Necrozma]

Go for Platinum, though HGSS and B2W2 are great games as well.

 

[Jolty94]

I would say Platinum as it's a fun adventure, and Sinnoh is something different in terms of layout, but then again, if it were me; I would go with HGSS.

It's weirdly and nicely nostalgic playing HGSS, even though it isn't a very old game, it has a homely feel to it. The Pokémon following is just a +, but if you're not fond of it, you will get annoyed pretty quick (it's also not something you can turn off). In all though, having Kanto & Johto, the entirety (and a little more) of the original GS story, and a good battling pace (not as fast as BW, but not as slow as DP), makes HGSS a pair of good games.

I'd say go for HGSS first, then Platinum, then BW2 if you're looking to play/have all of them eventually.

 

[CynthiaLover]

I'd say go with Platinum. It has the most of everything, such as hidden locations, post-game activities, lots of side-quests, treasure hunting, much more expansive region and Dex, Move Tutors, and a better difficulty level. Plus, you don't have to grind so much, as the VS Seeker does most of the work there, the wild Mons are higher leveled, and the AI actually makes things tricky. The only major downside is the obvious TM problem, as BW was the first game to introduce reusable TMs, and with the regular DS wifi gone, you can't trade for TMs anymore. But, given what the Sinnoh region offers, Platinum is the way to go. Plus, as others have said, it's graphics are not too shabby for how old it is. So I say go with Platinum.

 

[PaulTheProtist]

They're all great, but I'd go with B/W2 for the biggest Pokémon variety and having a huge postgame. White Treehollow, Pokéstar Studios, Battle Subway, PWT, Join Avenue, etc..

 

[Boss1708]

I would easily go with Platinum, but since Shinnoh are probaboy going to get a remake soon, it might be better to wait for that. Id probably think HGSS is the best option, but I dont know if it will be able to hold my attention since ive played Silver extensively. And BW2 is the newest game and has many updates like unlimited TMs and hidden abilities, etc. The thing is I definitely prefer Shinnoh and Johto over the Unova I explored in BW, so my question is how much better is the sequels Region? Is it better and are many new areas added or only a few?

 

[Bolt Strike]

I would easily go with Platinum, but since Shinnoh are probaboy going to get a remake soon, it might be better to wait for that. Id probably think HGSS is the best option, but I dont know if it will be able to hold my attention since ive played Silver extensively. And BW2 is the newest game and has many updates like unlimited TMs and hidden abilities, etc.

Well Sinnoh remakes aren't coming that soon, we're still at least 3 or 4 games off from those games releasing, so you'll probably have to wait around 5 years for them. So we're too far away from them to worry about that. Also keep in mind that if Game Freak continues where they've been going by that point, the remakes probably aren't going to have as much content as Platinum, so even if you wait for them you'll still probably want Platinum anyway to experience some of the things that were cut or changed.

The thing is I definitely prefer Shinnoh and Johto over the Unova I explored in BW, so my question is how much better is the sequels Region? Is it better and are many new areas added or only a few?

A lot better. The Pokemon variety is infinitely better, there's a lot of new areas, and there's a ton of post game content. Some things to keep in mind though are that the region is still mainly linear, and that some Pokemon and amenities are restricted to post game because of the way the game's designed. You won't have breeding, fossil restoration, or the Ore Maniac until post game, and some Unova Dex Pokemon, including some 5th gen Pokemon, are only obtained post game (the areas where these things show up were restricted to post game and they didn't bother moving them, so the game has several problems with not having important resources in the main game).

 

[Boss1708]

Well Sinnoh remakes aren't coming that soon, we're still at least 3 or 4 games off from those games releasing, so you'll probably have to wait around 5 years for them. So we're too far away from them to worry about that. Also keep in mind that if Game Freak continues where they've been going by that point, the remakes probably aren't going to have as much content as Platinum, so even if you wait for them you'll still probably want Platinum anyway to experience some of the things that were cut or changed.

The thing is I definitely prefer Shinnoh and Johto over the Unova I explored in BW, so my question is how much better is the sequels Region? Is it better and are many new areas added or only a few?

A lot better. The Pokemon variety is infinitely better, there's a lot of new areas, and there's a ton of post game content. Some things to keep in mind though are that the region is still mainly linear, and that some Pokemon and amenities are restricted to post game because of the way the game's designed. You won't have breeding, fossil restoration, or the Ore Maniac until post game, and some Unova Dex Pokemon, including some 5th gen Pokemon, are only obtained post game (the areas where these things show up were restricted to post game and they didn't bother moving them, so the game has several problems with not having important resources in the main game).

I think im between those two, as I think, although HGSS looks very complete and nostalgic, it gives me a feeling of replaying silver, which is annoying. While Shinnoh is the region I played the least, so it kinda seduces me a lot. The only issue I have really is IS the abscense of all the new features very obvious. Other than that, its the game id like the most from those 3. I just dont want to get a game that feels outdated.
On the other hand, B2W2 has the most battle options and I really wanna try the World Tournament. And it has the newest features like Hidden Abilities...